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technical info
The Route
This stage takes a long ride up the Adriatic coast before tackling a tough finale. Starting in Castellalto, the route descends across the urban centre, all the way to the valley floor. The first 100 km are raced on wide and straight roads, mainly along the coast. Upon reaching Castelfidardo, the route takes a first pass through the Selva della Battaglia and then enters the closing circuit, to be covered 4 times. The circuit (approx. 23 km) is a succession of climbs and descents, with just one short flat stretch, roughly halfway. The first ‘wall’ (where KOM points will be awarded upon each pass) has gradients of around 18% over long stretches in the final part.
Final Kilometres
The final kilometres undulate continuously, with two-figure uphill gradients past San Rocchetto. The last kilometre across urban Castelfidardo is fairly complex, as the route rises steadily and markedly all the way to the home straight, on tarmac road.
start / finish
climb detail
final kilometres
itinerary timetable
tourist info
Host city:
Castellalto
Points of interest
Castelfidardo
Touristic information
In the rolling hills of the Conero Riviera rises Castelfidardo, a town particularly famous in the world for being the birthplace of the accordion, an instrument that is characterized by its strong ability to aggregate and excite with its sound the people who listen to it and one of the symbolic places of the unification of Italy, theater of the homonymous battle of 18 September 1860 between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Papal State which sanctioned the birth of our country as we know it.
An emblem of Italian music in the world, the accordion is celebrated with a brand new museum located inside the town hall (www.museodellafisarmonica.it) and by the most famous international competition dedicated to the accordion, now in its 46th edition. (www.pifcastelfidardo.it)
Castelfidardo is a city of the unity of Italy symbolized by the second national monument dedicated to the Risorgimento after the Victorian museum in Rome, the bronze group of the sculptor Vito Pardo, which dominates a park surrounded by greenery from the top of a hill.
In the battle area, at the “crosses”, there is also a shrine, where the remains of the soldiers of both sides rest.
Also active is the museum of the Risorgimento rich in history and emotions (www.museodelrisorgimentocastelfidardo.it)
Another green oasis that deserves to be reached to admire the uniqueness of its flora and fauna, is the nearby Selva di Castelfidardo, where Villa Ferretti stands, built in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Gastronomy
The typical products and gastronomy of Castelfidardo closely mirrors that of the central area of the Marche region in the province of Ancona and Macerata. Worthy of note are the first courses such as the “Vincisgrassi” typical lasagna from the Marche seasoned with ragù sauce with chicken entrails and the famous “Boccolotti del Batte”, a first course that was served during the lunch at the end of the harvest.
For the cold periods we remember the passatelli in broth, thick spaghetti, cut, made with breadcrumbs, cheese and eggs to be cooked in chicken or capon broth.
Beans, lentils and legume soups were the basis of the sharecropping diet of our lands and which we still carry with us today.
Another specialty that characterizes us are the gnocchi with duck sauce.
How can we forget the cured meats and sausages with the Marche prince of sausages, the Ciauscolo.
Obviously, fish is also the basis of our diet given the proximity (8 km) of the Adriatic and the Conero Riviera.
Then sardoni allo scottadito, fried fish from the Adriatic and stockfish all’Anconetana, preceded by spaghetti with clams or “wild portonovo mussels”.
For dressing, our land reserves top quality oil with single-variety EVO of ascolana, leccino, Piantone di Mogliano, mignola and many other native varieties.
Drinks
In our territory there are two important wineries, Garofoli and Fioretti Brera, which offer high-density and award-winning red and white wines on the market at events and fairs dedicated to wine.
Rosso Conero, Verdicchio, Passerina, Trebbiano and other vines characterize the design of our hills, making them every season, with their colors, like a painting.
Points of interest
Museum of accordion: Located on the basement of the town hall, into an evocative setting of the sixteenth century, the museum was recently extended and it is dedicated to the musical instrument that has mostly been produced in Castelfidardo for more than a century.
The museum not only documents the history of this musical instrument, but it also wants to pay tribute to the employees, entrepreneurs and craftsmen. They contributed to the transformation of this area of the Marche region making an unthinkable prosperity of an industry that has been linked to the agriculture for centuries. Thanks to the instruments and the photographic panels, it is possible to look at the steps of the construction of the accordion, its classification and to find out which are the protagonist that have rotated and still rotate around it. It comprehends the artisan world filled of sweat, pride and creativity. The collection is made of 350 models different from one another.
Museum of Risorgimento: Opened in 1994, the museum is made of three structures: the battle area with the Ossario-sacrario dedicated to the dead (memorial monument), the Monumento Nazionale of Marche to honor the winners of the battle and the expository rooms of the historic building Ciriaco Mordini. In those there are illustrated the military and politics events and the social and cultural situation of the Risorgimento period, especially about the battle of Castelfidardo on the 18th September 1860. The teaching section is made by panels divided by topic. They present the events and their development from the 11th September 1860 to the surrender of Ancona on the 29th September 1861. The first panels are dedicated to the territory of the Marche region and to the papal state, but they are also about the action of the volunteer corps of Montefeltro. After the illustration of the battle and the diplomatic letters that foreran the declaration of war, other panels explain the events that involved Urbino, Pesaro and Fano as well as other occurences towards the city of Ancona. Then, there is a clarification about the papal actions of rally and march from Umbria to Marche across Colfiorito. The core of the section is made by four panels about the battle of Castelfidardo and about the movements of the two armies on the 18th September 1860, from 8.00 am to 12.00 am, till the end and the surrender in Villa Musone with the capitulation of Recanati.
National Monument of the Battle: Located near the old town, on the top of the hill of Monte Cucco, it was made of lost wax melting bronze to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the battle on the 18th September 1860. Of its kind, it is the most majestic monument across Italy. The idea of building a monument was launched in 1902 and it was supported by the mayor, Paolo Soprani. A committee, led by Ernesto Garulli, promoted a subscription that lasted for twelve years to which also the Italian State took part. In 1910, under the Kingdom of Vittorio Emanuele III, the monument was nationally recognized and solemnly opened on the 18th September 1912. The tender notice was won by the venetian sculptor Vito Pardo that introduced a new shape of sculpture. The space was conceived as a film setting and the leader is on a horse on the same level of the soldiers. The monument is 6 meters high and 12 meters long and it lays on a hill of 160 square meters made of white travertino stones from Ascoli. On the back there is an Assyrian-style crypt. The interior decorations were made by professors Giustini and Sollazioni both from Florence. The masonry work where the monument is set was realized by the master Giordani from Castelfidardo. The soldiers are like a blob and little by little they become more realistic and bigger. They compose the general Cialdini who points out the enemy and spurs his soldiers. The majestic bronze group is surrounded by a wide and blooming park with many suggestive corner plunged into nature (at the time of the realization the Ministry of Agriculture planted twenty-thousand pine and fir on the hill).
